Chinese police say boy's aunt prime suspect in eye gouging

A boy lies with his eyes bandaged as his mother sits next to him at a hospital in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China.

Story highlights

Chinese police name suspect as boy's aunt Zhang Huiying

Zhang died last week after jumping to a well near her home

The six-year-old boy was found bloodied with missing both eyes in late August

He told police a woman approached him, according to state media reports

Chinese police say the late aunt of a young boy whose eyes were gouged out is the prime suspect in the horrific attack, state media news agency Xinhua reports.

The six-year-old boy, named by local media as Xiao Binbin, is still recovering in hospital after being found bloodied and in a drugged state with both eyes missing near his home in late August. He'd been missing for four hours.

Early reports suggested that Xiao may have been the victim of organ traffickers, claims police later denied.

Now, authorities in Fenxi country, Shanxi Province, have named the suspect as the boy's aunt Zhang Huiying, who killed herself last Friday after jumping into a well in the courtyard of her home.

Police said Zhang's DNA was found at the scene of her nephew's attack. Blood stains belonging to the boy were also found on Zhang's clothes.

The boy told police that a woman with a non-local accent called his name and asked him if anybody in his home played mahjong before taking him to the field, according to quotes attributed to his mother, Wang Wenli, in state media.

Local police immediately launched a manhunt for the suspect by offering a 100,000 yuan ($16,335) reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect, whom they said was a woman, according to Xinhua.

Soon after the attack, state broadcaster CCTV showed images of a boy with bandages over his eyes recovering in hospital while his stricken relatives cried at his bedside.